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Janney or Sheridan?
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Anonymous
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Starting in K, for a sharp (especially in math), social, and very boyish (sporty) boy. He's interested in music, but, at least at this point, not really in other fine arts. (DS2 is an infant, so it's too early to tell what he'll be like; we do not intend to have a third child.)
While we're certainly not rolling in it, financial considerations won't drive this decision for us. I'm posting on both the public school board and the private school board because I'm hoping to hear from folks in both camps. I hope that's not spamming. Many thanks in advance for all anecdotes and insights! |
Anonymous
| Cue the DCUM Sheridan hater in 3, 2, 1....... |
Anonymous
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Yes, there is one Sheridan hater on here who lurks
My DC is at Sheridan. If your child is interested in music they really do have a great program. Free violin lessons (starting in 1st grade) for any child who wants them and the lower school music teacher is great. The math is the Everyday math program which they stick pretty strictly to. The school won't really start offering advanced students special work until the 3rd grade. The K is taught in a Reggio Emilia method which lets the kids be really creative and work collaboratively. There is a ton of running around time in K at Sheridan. They have PE 4x a week and 2 1/2 hour recesses everyday. I can't speak for janney but I know my child has 2 kids who moved over from janney to Sheridan. hope that helps |
Anonymous
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Are you deciding for next fall, 2010?
Our DC is at Sheridan and I concur with 13:38. The teacher : student ration feels very low at Sheridan, which we like. re: math. My child's strongest subject is math and I feel like he has been stalled in the early grades. He could work at a much faster pace than the Sheridan curriculum will allow him. Teachers give him a little something extra to do occasionally but I don't feel it's real differentiation. Now, I think that would certainly also be the case at Janney too. So that reality probably ought not tip the balance for you. However other private schools might do a better job of accelerating strong math students (but you didn't mention others which is why I asked if your DS is entering one or the other in 2010). GL! |
Anonymous
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The Kindergarten teacher at Murch taught at Sheridan for 5 years. You may want to speak to her. I don't know her name but met her during a tour.
My own child did not get accepted OOB and will be attending a private this fall. |
Anonymous
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assuming you are in bounds for Janney, I would do Sheridan for K, then see what happens. I predict the construction at Janney next year will make it a very difficult year. The K teacher at Sheridan is by reputation fabulous.
I likely would transfer my kid back to Janney in 2nd or 3rd, so that DC#2 would get sibling preference for the preK lottery. I wouldn't pay private school tuition for early grades, when I had a free option as reportedly good as Janney, until my kid's college accounts were fully funded. Hard to know about your children now, but I also think Deal for middle has a lot of advantages over a one class per grade school like Sheridan. So, I'd set my kids up to go to Deal with their Janney friends. |
Anonymous
| Hand down Janney. It's free, it's good, it's differentiated in all grades. Sheridan will always have space later on, when your child is reading and doing math in circles around kids who start there. Teaching to the test is not always a bad thing when it comes to A-B-C and 1-2-3. |
Anonymous
That is just so not true about Janney. |
Anonymous
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The one thing about Sheridan (this can be a plus or a minus), it is very small, with one class per grade. If your kid is really really social, he may find it limiting.
Either way, they are good options to have. |
Anonymous
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I agree with 15:18's analysis. I'd be really hesitant to send a kindergartener to school at a construction site if I had a good alternative. It's not just a matter of noise/disruption, but loss of outdoor play space while the work is being done.
Post-construction, though, I'd probably prefer Janney to Sheridan. |
Anonymous
| The fact that you have received zero responses on the Public School Forum may say something |
Anonymous
What? That those parents don't have the luxury of posting on message boards during the work day..... |
Anonymous
What do you mean by this? I'm a frequenter of the DC public school forum and did not reply to this post because I had nothing to contribute. I know absolutely zero about Sheridan and had actually had never heard of it prior to this posting. I imagine that's true for many of the public school parents, many of whom never considered private schools. |
Anonymous
| Most DCPS posters would, like me, think "oh brother". You're districted to one of the most sought-after elementary schools. If this were our only issue! Waste money on Sheridan and leave a space for an out-of-boundary kid like mine! |
Anonymous
Thanks very much, PP (and others)! We're still a year out. I asked specifically about Sheridan because it's the one private school we toured where DH walked out thinking, "yeah, I would have really liked going to school here, and it would have been really good for me" -- since DS1 is, at least at this point, a stunningly accurate "mini-me" of DH, that reaction means a lot to us. The lack of math differentiation gives me some pause, though -- which schools might nurture this gift better? We'd certainly be willing to take a second (or first!) look at schools that might make more sense for DS1 in this regard. Thanks again! |